Mariposa
Mariposa was a gas giant that was located around the star Pollux. It was the first of two planets in the system, the second being a cold super-Earth called Polilla. Mariposa was twice the mass of Jupiter that had blue streaks through its atmosphere that gives the impression that its composition included hydrogen, helium, as well as methane, which would make it breathable by the Unggoy. Mariposa's rings were its most well know feature, which placed it on par with Saturn's for the most beautiful in Known Space. Mariposa is orbited by 51 moons, most of them under 1000 kilometers in diameter. The planet itself is over 86,000 kilometers in diameter. The only signs of habitation around Mariposa are mining stations that extract methane and helium from the upper atmosphere of the planet. These are mostly automated, but maintain a small Human population to oversee the process and conduct repairs. The total population of these stations totals to around 10,000 people. The Unggoy also have Aerostat mining stations that float in the upper atmosphere of Mariposa at a level where the winds are tolerable. In 2552, Mariposa was the site of multiple skirmishes, particularly a battle involving the Sixth Battle Fleet that was able to 'outmaneuver' a Covenant attack force. Since then. Mariposa's role has been strictly peaceful. Mariposa has an orbital period of 584.6 days and takes approximately 19 hours to make a full equatorial rotation. Planetary Description Mariposa's cloud structure has multiple bands in it that form like typical gas giants. Though there is no physical surface to Mariposa, the clouds themselves seem to have a sort of geography to them. Multiple updrafts suggest that there is a form of heat inside the planet that causes clouds that are of heavier gasses to rise to the upper layers of the planet. Lightning strikes are common on Mariposa, as with other gas giants. Wind speeds on the planet can accelerate as fast as 2,000 kilometers per hour that creates gusting winds that blow faster than the speed of sound. It is believed that the core of the planet is made up of a metallic hydrogen core that is put under extreme pressure. Probes that were sent far enough into the atmosphere managed to splash down into the hydrogen sea that exists far below the range where spacecraft can operate. The probe was shortly destroyed afterwards. Two large storms exist on Mariposa. The first is the Angry Blue Spot, which exists in the planet's northeastern hemisphere. This storm appears to have been occuring for close to four hundred years, as its first mention was sometime in the 29th Century. The second storm formation is the Blueberry Storm, a nearly circular formation along the equator of the planet that seems to even form an eye wall of sorts. This storm seems to have been going on far longer than the Angry Blue Spot. The Blueberry Storm was estimated to have been occuring for over a thousand years. Thanks to Covenant data from the 20th Century, this is an accurate report. The rings of Mariposa were thought to have been composed of rock and ice along with dust particles. Like many gas giants with rings, these rings are constantly bombarded by material exposing new surfaces to reflect light, making the rings highly luminous and noticable. The most likely theory on the rings' formation is that a moon may have been drawn into the planet's gravity field some time in the past and was ripped apart by tidal forces. Of Mariposa's 51 moons, the largest of them all is Monarchus, which is approximately 5,140 kilometers in diameter, which is also large enough for it to hold an atmosphere. Monarchus is dense for its size, pulling a .6G surface gravity, but the atmosphere of mainly carbon dioxide and methane is too thin and unsuitable for Humans. For Unggoy though, the planet's atmosphere would only be difficult to breathe at worst. Other noticable moons are Karner, which is a frozen icy moon similar to Europa before its terraformation. A planetary ocean is suspected. Another moon, Viceroy, is extremely volcanic, which means that its proxamity to Mariposa causes friction which itself causes geological activity. Trivia *''Mariposa'' is Spanish for 'Butterfly'. Following this pattern, all of Mariposa's moons are named after species of butterfly. Appearances *Journal of Sally Acorn (Mentioned Only) *Halo Graphic Novel (Mentioned Only) Category:Planet Category:Locations Category:Gas Giant